Rebirth Of The Rejected Luna Chapter 114: Her Potential

**Erika's POV**

I let go, panting, my sides heaving. My body hurt everywhere, but I didn’t care. I’d won.

My vision swam, my limbs trembling. Blood soaked my fur. Some of it were mine, most of it the bear’s. The adrenaline that had kept me moving drained away, leaving exhaustion in its place.

I needed to shift back.

I took a deep breath, willing to change. My body began to shift—fur retreating, bones reshaping—

And then the exhaustion swallowed me whole.

Halfway between wolf and human, my body collapsed.

The last thing I saw was the sky above, the world blurring before everything faded to black.

**Carlo Zea's POV**

Lying a few feet away, bloodied and unmoving was Erika.

I rushed forward, dropping to my knees beside her.

Her body was in between forms—half of her was still covered in fur, the other half human. She was caught mid-shift, which meant one thing. She hadn’t collapsed after the fight. She collapsed while shifting back.

I grabbed her wrist, searching for a pulse. Weak, but there. Her breathing was shallow, her chest barely rising and falling.

“Erika,” I called, shaking her lightly. “Wake up.”

She didn’t stir.

Damn it.

She was burning up, her body still recovering from whatever had just happened. I didn’t know how long she had been here, but she was in no condition to be left alone.

I slid my arms beneath her, careful not to jostle her wounds. She was heavier than I expected, but I lifted her easily. Her head lolled against my chest, her body limp.

I took off, running as fast as I could.

The forest blurred around me, my only focus on getting her back to the packhouse before it was too late.

The second I burst through the doors, heads turned. Conversations died.

A few pack members stepped back, eyes widening as they took in the bloody mess in my arms.

“What happened?” someone asked, but I didn’t answer.

“Move,” I snapped, shoving past them.

The infirmary was at the far end of the packhouse. I stormed in, nearly kicking the door off its hinges.

“She needs help!” I barked.

The healer, an older woman with silver-streaked hair, looked up from her desk. Her sharp eyes widened when she saw Erika.

“Put her here,” she ordered, motioning to the nearest bed.

I laid Erika down carefully, stepping aside as the healer moved in. She pressed her hands over Erika’s forehead, then over her chest, her fingers glowing faintly.

“She’s exhausted,” the healer muttered. “Completely drained. Her energy’s depleted. The wounds aren’t as bad as they look, but she’s dangerously low on strength.”

I ran a hand through my hair. “She killed a bear.”

The healer stilled.

Her gaze snapped up to meet mine. “What?”

“She fought a bear,” I repeated. “Alone. And she won.”

The healer let out a slow breath. “That girl…” she muttered, shaking her head.

I stayed by the bed, watching as the healer worked. She cleaned Erika’s wounds, bandaging the worst of them, and murmured a few words under her breath. Magic pulsed in the air. Soft, subtle healing magic, barely noticeable unless you knew what to look for.

“She needs rest,” the healer finally said, turning to me. “That’s all you can do for now. Let her sleep.”

I exhaled. A part of me wanted to stay, to make sure she was okay, but there was something I needed to do first.

I had to talk to the Alpha.

Alpha Corvin's office was quiet when I entered. He sat behind his large desk, flipping through a stack of papers. He didn’t look up immediately.

“Carlo,” he greeted. “What brings you here?”

I took a breath. “We need to pause Erika’s training.”

He looked up then, raising a brow. “Pause?”

I nodded. “She overworked herself today. She was already exhausted, but then she went into the woods, fought a bear, killed it, and collapsed mid-shift.”

Alpha Corvin leaned back in his chair, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Didn’t she already finish training earlier?”

“Yes.”

“So she should have been tired.”

“Yes.”

“And she still killed a bear?”

I clenched my jaw. “Yes.”

The Alpha was silent for a long moment. Then, to my surprise, he smiled.

“She has potential,” he said, almost to himself. His fingers tapped against the desk, his eyes gleaming. He didn't seem to care about the fact that she was injured badly.

I frowned. “Alpha—”

“This isn’t just strength,” he cut in. “It’s something else. Something deeper.”

I hesitated. “What do you mean?”

Alpha Corvin leaned forward. “No ordinary wolf would have survived that fight. But she didn’t just survive—she won. Even when her body should have given out, even when she should have been too exhausted to fight, she still pushed forward. That’s not normal.”

I swallowed. “So what are you saying?”

“I’m saying she has something inside her,” he said. “A power waiting to be unlocked. And we need to unlock it as soon as possible.”

I exhaled. “Alpha, she almost died.”

“But she didn’t,” he countered. “And that tells me she’s capable of more than even she realizes.”

I looked away, jaw tight. “So what now?”

“We train her,” he said simply. “Not just physically. We find out what’s inside her. We push her until she reaches her full potential.”

A shiver ran down my spine. I wasn’t sure how I felt about this.

But one thing was clear—Erika was special.

And the Alpha wasn’t going to let that go to waste.

I returned to the infirmary later that night.

The room was dim, the faint glow of candlelight casting shadows on the walls. Erika was still asleep, her breathing steady. The healer had done her job well—her wounds were bandaged, and most of the blood had been cleaned off.

She looked… peaceful.

But I knew better.

This wasn’t peace. This was the calm before the storm.

I pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down.

For a long time, I just watched her.

She had no idea of what was coming.

But one way or another… she was going to find out.